When the Levee Breaks
by purplestarling
Summary: The Reaper War is over and Shepard has been bed ridden for months now. She isn't too happy with her progress and tends to take it out on the ones she loves. Rated M for language...mostly.


Hey everyone. Thanks for your follows and favs on the last story. Here is another one. This is set after the Reaper War and destroy ending. Shepard has been bed ridden for months now and is really frustrated that her progress is so slow. Garrus has been patient with her and her snappy attitude but everyone has a breaking point.

* * *

Shepard had been in a sour mood for the past few days. She was sick of being in that damn bed, but her damn legs weren't cooperating with her. Garrus would come everyday to help her with her exercises but her sour mood started to rear its ugly head during these sessions. He was being as patient as he could with her, but it was starting to really get on his nerves. He knew she wasn't mad at him, she was mad that her recovery was going slower than she hoped. Garrus would remind her that no one expected her to recover quickly at all. She was on the brink of death for Spirits sake and in a coma for weeks. She was still being stubborn as a mule. He thought that was how the saying goes.

Shit really hit the fan one afternoon. Shepard was asleep in bed and woke up with the sudden urge to pee. She would normally press the button on the nightstand next to her to get Chawas or Miranda to come in and help her to the rest room, but her next session with Garrus was in five minutes. _Wouldn't it be great if you could show that Turian bastard that I'm farther along in my recovery that he claims I am_, she thought to herself, _the look on his face would be priceless when he sees me stroll out of that bathroom door._

If she was going to do it she had to do it soon. She had to go pee now. Shepard painfully sat up and turned her body to the side of the bed. Her legs dangled off the side of the bed as she stared in the direction in front of her. The bathroom was a straight shot. Ten steps at least. _C'mon Shepard you can do this._ She took a deep breath and shivered as her bare feet touched the cold tiled floor. She took her first step.

_Ok a little wobbly, but so far so good. Ok now my left foot._ She took that step. Still wobbly, but better than the last. The bathroom seemed farther now. _Maybe I mis-calculated. Sure it's about ten steps for a regular person not a fucking invalid._ She shook her head and kept going.

Each step was agonizing but she just bit her lip and kept going. She was on her seventh step when her legs were being as cooperative as the Council. Her eighth step is when it went all downhill. Her legs gave out and her ass hit the floor hard. The thing about recovering from the brink of death is that you are not in complete control of your muscles or your bladder. Shepard's hand held herself up as she felt herself lose control. "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE **FUCKING** KIDDING ME!" She yelled out to no one in particular.

Then the doors to her room opened up and in came Garrus. "Shepard! What are you doing out of bed?" She tired to keep her temper in check.

"GARRUS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD **LEAVE**," she couldn't even look at him. She just chose a spot on the ceiling to stare at. She was too embarrassed to look at him.

"What are you doing on the floor?" He tired to stay calm. Garrus stepped forward a few steps and stopped when he saw a familiar blue glow come off of Shepard.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSE TO KEEP YOUR BIOTICS OFFLINE SHEPARD," Garrus started to loose his temper now and a low growl. He had and has been so patient with her and she knew it, but she was just too damn embarrassed for him to see her like this and what she did.

"I SWEAR GARRUS, JUST TURN AROUND AND LEAVE," she seethed. He started to rush forward, "Shep-" Then he was pushed with her biotics. He stumbled backwards, more surprised then hurt. It would have been the other way around if she was anywhere near full strength. Shepard crawled quickly the rest of the way to the bathroom and slammed the door shut with what he assumed was her biotics again.

Garrus started to charge at the door but then stopped when he saw a small puddle on the floor. It looked a lot like urine. His current state of rage quickly melted away when he put together the pieces in his head. Instead of continuing his fight with Shepard, he began to look for towels to clean up the mess. He spotted some hanging on a hook on the wall. His heart sank as he cleaned up the mess on the floor. He just quietly cleaned it up and disposed of the towels. He sighed heavily as he went for the door.

"Shepard. Please open the door and let me help you clean up." Silence was the only answer he received from her. He knew he was going to have to be forceful with her now.

"You can either sit in there till Chawas comes in to check on you tonight or you can let me in. Chawas was serious you know, about restraining you to the bed." Still silence.

"Fine. Act like a stubborn child then." Still nothing. He was about to turn around and leave to get Chawas when she finally responded.

"I'd rather be a stubborn child than and insubordinate Turian." Garrus smirked a little.

"I've been both Shepard. Being an insubordinate Turian is way better than being a stubborn child." He heard a small laugh from the other side of the door. "Shepard please let me in. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Just please let me help you."

He heard a heavy sigh from the other side and then a click as the door cracked open. Shepard sat on the floor in her wet pajama bottoms and her shirt that the hospital gave her to wear. He could have sworn her stare bore right through his skull. She started to scoot back and then use the toilet to lift herself up. She was almost up when she stumbled. Garrus rushed over and caught her. "Hey, hey hey. Easy now," he said in that voice that made a shiver go down her spine.

She held herself steady as he went and turned the shower on. He helped her towards the shower and pulled her shirt over her head. He had seen them before but still winced when he saw all the bruises and bandages on her body. Many of the bruises were still purple and blue. Some of them were yellow, but not many. He started to peel more of the bandages off. Her brow furrowed a bit when he did. She was trying to keep a brave face on. He pulled her pants down and did the same with the bandages on her legs.

She finally showed some pain in her face when the warm water of the shower hit her marred skin. It took him a moment to realize the painful look on her face never left. Her face contorted in way he had never seen on her, but on plenty of other humans. The salty water that humans called tears came from her eyes. She was starting to sob. "Hey. It's ok," he said pulling her towards him. He had never really seen her cry before. He thought that she was on the verge of tears maybe when they said their goodbyes during the final push to the beam, when she said I love you, but that was as close as he had ever seen her cry.

This was like the floodgates had opened. Shepard wept and sobbed hard into the crook of his neck. His heart ached for her. She just had to let it all finally come out. Every sad, sorrowful moment of her life seemed to flash in her mind.

Shepard just let it overcome her as she buried herself into him and his armor. This continued on for five more minutes. Garrus didn't say a word. He didn't need to; he just needed to be there.

When she finally lifted up her head to look at him her face was totally different. He had seen that look before but thought he was misinterpreting it. Besides her eyes being red and puffy from tears and the cuts that were still healing on her face, he could have sworn she was giving him the same look she did that night before the Omega Relay.

"Garrus," she almost whispered. She then began to kiss him. He held her closer, half feeling guilty that he was going along with this. She was in no shape to do what she was thinking, but he continued to lead her on. He needed her. He missed her. Shepard started to unclasp his armor. He grabbed her hand and broke away from her kiss.

"Shepard, are you sure about this? I-I don't want to hurt you." She pushed her forehead against his. "I swear to God Vakarian, I'm not made of tissue paper. If you don't do this I might go insane. Do you really want me to have **TWO** mental breakdowns in one day? **I NEED YOU**."

That was all he needed to hear as he let his desires come over him. He kissed her hard and passionately. He kissed her the way he wanted to when he first saw her alive after the Reaper War, but couldn't because of her fragile state. They took things slowly but it was still satisfying and intense. After it was all over she breathed heavy as she rested her head against the wall and still in his embrace. He rested his forehead on the wall next to her. Water and steam from the shower cascaded down them. All he could hear was her breath and the sound of the shower.

"So, do I still got it? Because you certainly still do," she said with a breathless smile, her eyes adorningly looking at him.

He laughed and so did she. I seemed like they hadn't done that in such a long time. "You still got it," he returned with an adorning look of his own.

She smiled some more and closed her eyes as if she were just taking in the moment. He'd seen her do that before. It was always when she was really happy and relieved. Like after they had cured the genophage. She was so beautiful as she held her head up to the sky and closed her eyes as the cure fell down in little specks on them.

Shepard let Garrus bandage her up and carry her back to bed. She was almost ready to pass out from exhaustion. "Garrus," she said quietly. He sat on the edge of the bed so she knew she had his full attention. "What we just did in there was fucking great," she said with a small satisfied smile.

He started to chuckle, "You are so poetic Shepard."

She grabbed his hand and held it to her face. "When I'm feeling better though, I'm going to rock you world Vakarian." He laughed a little more as she, dare he say, giggled out her last comment.

"I'm going to hold you to that," he said as he reached down to put his forehead against hers. She slipped into slumber shortly after that, with a peaceful look that he thought he'd never seen on her face before.


End file.
